Berend Van Hoorn has had a long history of employment with Shell worldwide spanning a period of over 30 years. His job positions included working as an exploration geologist in Oman, Japan, Malaysia, Spain, UK, The Netherlands and the USA. Of particular relevance to deepwater exploration were his assignments as Head of Regional Geology for Shell UK in London, Head of Global Geology for Shell International in the Netherlands, Chief Geologist, Shell Offshore (Deepwater) in New Orleans, and Manager for technical reviews of all global deepwater ventures with a Shell involvement.

Berend has been a Consulting Geologist for the past nine years which has included the development of deepwater and new exploration plays worldwide while maintaining a continued involvement with Shell training as well as conducting peer reviews with third parties. Berend holds a Masters Degree in Geology and a Ph.D. in Earth & Natural Sciences (Geology) both from Leiden University in the Netherlands. His Ph.D. thesis was based on the paleogeographic and stratigraphic evolution of an Upper Cretaceous turbidite basin the south-central Pyrenees. He was Technical Co-Chairman for the International AAPG Conferences in Birmingham and Barcelona in 1999 and 2003 respectively.